Somewhat lost in Donald Trump’s racist attacks on famous black athletes this weekend was the fact that it all started when Trump tried to fire up his racist base in support of Senate candidate Luther Strange in Alabama. Trump called NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick a “son of a bitch” while at a rally for Strange. Even as Trump gets pummeled for it on a national level, it appears his racist efforts aren’t even helping Strange, who is now in deep trouble.

Luther Strange is technically the incumbent, after having been appointed to the U.S. Senate just months ago. That appointment was so criminally scandalous that Alabama is already holding a special election to allow the people to choose whom they truly want as Senator. Strange is facing a Republican primary challenge from Roy Moore, who is just as deranged and racist, but who isn’t favored by Trump or by the Republican Party establishment. Yet Moore is on track to win.

It’s now being revealed by Politico that Luther Strange is still in trouble despite Trump’s best efforts to prop him up (link). Moore is up significantly in the polls, and barring an upset, he’ll win the Republican nomination for the Senate seat. This would represent a huge blow to Trump’s ego, after he bent over backward to try to get Strange elected. It would also signal that the national GOP has lost control of whom it wants to be its nominees in congressional races, an ugly sign for the party heading into the 2018 midterms.

Donald Trump seemed to think he could head down to Alabama, say a few blatantly racist things on behalf of a Republican candidate, and assure him of the party’s nomination. Instead this is shaping up to be merely the latest sign of just how weak Trump has become, and how severely his influence – even among his own base – is fading.

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